Welcome to another edition
of Linus Lam Network News for 2013! This news report covers our trip
to Dragon-con 2013 for a huge weekend of science fiction, fantasy, and
horror enjoyment and
a whole lot more! Held in Atlanta, Georgia over the weekend of August 30 - September 2,
Dragon-con 2013 saw lots of attendees ready to party on with a bunch of
dedicated artists, live performances, gaming events, cosplay fun, and plenty of opportunities to hang
out with fellow geeks, nerds, and fans of all things. Our exciting trip to
Dragon-con 2013 starts here! Coverage you can count on, here at Linus Lam
Network News!

Report:
It's that crazy
time of year again. It's Dragon-con time, and it's a pretty big deal to
the ever-growing attendance of Dragon-con veterans. The local Atlanta
bakeries sell out on exclusive Dragon-con themed cakes and cookies. It has
it's own popular Lord of the Rings-inspired internet meme, "One does
not simply pack for Dragon-con". Everyone sleeps as much as
they can beforehand because they know they will barely get even 2-3 hours
on any given convention night, affectionately known as "Dragon-con
time". Nearly every IT department around the United States goes
into crisis mode because the workers are spending their vacation days at
Dragon-con, either dressed up as superheroes or hosting panels and
workshops about nerdy sub-cultures.

Dragon-con celebrates American Pop Culture in unique and extraordinary
style, flash, and glitz. Every year yields an unprecedented smorgasbord of
Hollywood and indie film and comic representatives attending from around
the world, industrial-goth-punk musicians like Crux Shadows, comedians
like Voltaire, major events like the Harry Potter Yule Ball, rollicking
Robot Rumble robotic wreck-fest, and of course, thousands of wild and
crazy costumes. Additional sights include the afternoon drum circles,
midnight raves, huge superhero photo gatherings, medieval weapons fighting
workshops for LARP enthusiasts, and a massive annual parade of thousands
of Dragon-con costumers wearing inspired works from Star Wars, Star Trek,
Wheel of Time, Anime, Doctor Who, horror films, Renaissance Faire,
SteamPunk, and more taking to the streets of downtown Atlanta to present
the largest costume parade in the nation. Curiously, Joseph
Linsner's Dawn Look-alike Costume Contest was missing and the annual
Parade route required a different setup this year because of construction
down in the Civic Plaza area.

Registration is hosted inside the Sheraton Hotel, a short block away from
the Hilton and Marriott. Badge processing is a super-fast experience,
especially for the pre-registered folks. It's a simple bar-code
verification scan, badge label print-out, affix to badge, and you are
set! I got my badge in 30 minutes on Thursday around 12 noon.
The line really does go very fast. No one really knows for sure how
many people actually attend Dragon-con because the days have mostly
unregulated access to everything with the evenings and nights requiring
badge/hotel key to be shown but it is estimated to be around
70-80,000. Dealers and Exhibits were moved into the AmericasMart
across from the Hyatt Hotel. Although it was pretty crowded in
there, the security kept the lines moving fairly nicely and most attendees
were patient and polite. The move allowed more space for Autograph
sessions to be held in the Marriott lower floors. Gaming rooms were still held at the Hilton and the layout was
unchanged. Walk of Fame was moved into the Marriott. Artists Alley was still held in the lower floors of the
Hyatt and some panels and workshops had been hosted at the newly added
Westin hotel. Courtsey Dragon-con busses shuttled attendees around
the area and stopped at each location every 30-45 minutes. It was
nice to see the newly expanded Amory containing more weapons in the lower
floor of the Hyatt.

One of the most popular aspects of Dragon-con is that there's no need to
host exclusive room parties. Every single hotel's main or atrium lobby and
adjoining walkways have bars and lounges where all the costumed revelers
can exchange pictures, share wild stories, and hob-nob with fellow geeks,
nerds, and Hollywood celebrities. Alcohol is served at night and the
adult-version of a very packed Halloween in Las Vegas rages on well into
the morning hours, especially in the Marriott Marquis hotel. If San
Diego Comic-con is the formal industry networking convention, then
Dragon-con is the informal Mardi Gras Party of all Parties. It is a 5-day
wild and crazy MEGA-Party with heaping portions of friendly Southern
Hospitality.

The idea of a Neverland convention where geeks and nerds of all ages can
have it all is what Dragon-con embodies in its soul. Nothing is too out of
the ordinary. Nothing is too obscure. References to movies, TV shows, TV
commercials, and anything in American or World Pop Culture are recognized
and embraced with lots of photos being taken. The hotel staff, the
conventions staff, and generally most of the attendees and fellow guests
go out of their way to be friendly and courteous to you. If there
was a convention where you could retire at, Dragon-con would be it.
Always highly recommended.